A DEDICATED team has been appointed to design road upgrades for the planned Westport container port in Western Australia.
The team will get detailed planning and development under way for upgrades to Anketell Road and Kwinana Freeway.
In a Westport bulletin on 1 May 2025 it was announced that Main Roads, through the Office of Major Transport Infrastructure Delivery (OMTID), has established a Westport Roads Integrated Project Team (IPT).
Over the coming 18 months, the team will undertake a range of activities to define project scopes and designs.
“Upgrading Anketell Road west of Kwinana Freeway is the first stage of Westport’s Anketell Thomas Road Freight Corridor (ATRFC) – the long-term plan for a strategic east-west freight link between Kwinana and Tonkin Highway in Oakford,” the bulletin said.
“The upgrades will provide a high-quality, safe, and efficient corridor to facilitate construction and operation of Westport and improve access to the Kwinana Industrial Area. Planning for the section east of Kwinana Freeway will be completed to inform a future planning scheme amendment.
“The Anketell Road upgrades are currently not funded for construction, however detailed planning and development will ensure the upgrades are ready to proceed, pending a government investment decision.”
Planning and design work has started on the Kwinana Freeway upgrades, one of the busiest roads in WA, to identify a long-term plan for the freeway.
Planning and design work has started to identify the long-term plan for the Kwinana Freeway which will enable the first stage of upgrades to get under way.
The freeway upgrades are a government election commitment, with $700 million in funding committed to date by state and commonwealth governments.
This project includes widening Kwinana Freeway between the Roe Highway intersection and the Mortimer Road intersection (in both directions), the introduction of coordinated ramp signals on the northbound between Roe Highway and Safety Bay Road, and barrier and surfacing works.
“These upgrades will increase the Freeway’s capacity, in turn improving safety, reducing congestion and enhancing freight efficiency,” the bulletin says.